Deal: July revenue numbers up 7.3%

News release from the Governor's Office of Communications

Atlanta, GA - In the first month of the 2012 fiscal year, the state of Georgia's net tax collections totaled $1.2 billion, an increase of $84 million or 7.3% compared to July 2011, Gov. Nathan Deal reported today.

"The first month of this fiscal year has continued the trend of year-on-year comparison growth," said Deal. "I am encouraged by the results but will watch Georgia's revenue numbers closely to ensure we maintain a conservative state budget. There's much uncertainty in the market at the moment, and I'm committed to preparing our state government for whatever the global economy throws our way."

The following changes within the various tax categories led to the overall revenue increase:

Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for July 2012 totaled $656.5 million, up from $536 million in July 2011 for an increase on $120.5 million or 22.5 percent.

The following notable components within Individual Income Tax make up the overall increase:

· Individual Tax Return payments are down $3.5 million or 34.1 percent.

· Individual Withholding payments are up $29 million or 4.6 percent

· Individual refunds issued (net of voided checks) are down $91 million or 71.6 percent

· All other Individual Income Tax categories combined for an increase of nearly $4 million

Sales and Use Tax: Sales and Use Tax collections for July 2012 reported a net decrease of $5 million or 1.1 percent over the same period last fiscal year. Gross collections reported an increase of $38 million or 4.6 percent, up from $815 million in July 2011 to $853 million in July 2012.

Local distributions for July 2012 also increased by $30 million or 8.4 percent over last July, while net Sales Tax refunds increased $12 million or 387 percent over the same period last year to effectively negate the positive improvement in gross collections.